San Jose picked to host 2019 NHL All-Star Game

By Curtis Pashelka, Bay Area News Group

Saturday, January 27, 2018

The NHL All-Star Game is coming to San Jose in 2019.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman officially announced Saturday in Tampa, Florida, where this year’s all-star game is being held, that San Jose and the Sharks will host next year’s weekend-long event, with the skills competition on Jan. 26 and the game itself on Jan. 27, both at SAP Center.

The last time San Jose hosted the NHL All-Star Game was 1997, when the Sharks franchise was in its sixth season and SAP Center — then called San Jose Arena — was just four years old.

The Sharks were hoping to bring the game back to San Jose at some point and within the last six-to-nine months, put in a bid with the league to host the event in 2019.

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It isn’t known how many franchises submit a bid for next year’s game, although new arenas in Detroit and Las Vegas may have also been potential destinations. Detroit opened Little Caesers Arena in September and T-Mobile Arena, home of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, opened in April 2016.

Aiding the bid, in all likelihood, was the South Bay’s ability in the past to host major sports and entertainment events, including WrestleMania in 2015, the Super Bowl 2016 and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships from late December to early January. Silicon Valley is also one of the most affluent regions in the country.

This will also be the third time in five years the Sharks will be involved in one of the NHL’s marquee events. An outdoor game was held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara with over 70,000 people in attendance in 2015, and the Sharks advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016.

“Our fans wanted to see this event come back, and we’re bringing it back and we’re very excited about it.” said John Tortora, co-president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, on Saturday.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo was on board, saying in a Sharks’ team release that, “On behalf of our entire city, I look forward to working with the Sharks and the NHL to create a special experience for the thousands of rabid hockey fans who will be in San Jose for this marquee event.”

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Tampa is hosting the event this year for the first time since 1999. The 2016 all-star game was held in Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Not only does the all-star game brings most of the NHL’s best players together, but potentially thousands of visitors to the area. In 2016 when Nashville hosted the event, roughly 60,000 people attended concerts and other festivities, according to The Tennessean, and 5,000 hotel nights were booked by media and hockey officials.

Tortora estimated that over 7,000 hotel nights will be booked in San Jose and the region through the weekend of the event next year.

“This type of event brings people from all over the world into San Jose, puts an international spotlight on our city and contributes to a high level of economic impact in a short period of time,” Tortora said. “SAP Center has done this through 25 years of its existence.”

Then-Shark Owen Nolan had a hat trick in the 1997 game for the Western Conference, and had one of the most memorable moments in the event’s history, famously calling his shot as he pointed to the top corner past goalie Dominik Hasek and proceeded to score in that exact spot. Tony Granato, also a Shark at the time, was a starter for that game.

This year, defensemen Brent Burns is participating in the all-star game for the fourth straight time as a member the Sharks and the fifth time in his career. Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Logan Couture are the other current Sharks players that have been selected to play in the event in past years.

The last time the Bay Area hosted an all-star game for a major professional sports league was in 2016 when Major League Soccer held its event at Avaya Stadium in San Jose. The 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The Sharks announced Saturday that 2018-19 Sharks365 members will have the first opportunity to buy tickets to the game and the skills competition. Further details on other entertainment and fan experience events surrounding the weekend will be released in the coming weeks.